Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 09:04:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Deborah Hunt <dhunt@exploratorium.edu>
To: IFI listservs <advanced1@exploratorium.edu>, intro1@exploratorium.edu,
Subject: Cotton (fwd)
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Hi, everyone.
Thought you all might be interested in the cotton boll experience sent
to us here at the Exploratorium.
Deb
> I am a third grade teacher in South Carolina. I have had good results
> teaching with raw cotton. I get a dry plant in the fall and take it to
> class. My kids pick the cotton bolls and pull them apart separating the
> seeds from the fiber. We weigh what they have hand-cleaned and compute
the > kid-hours per pound or kilo. Then we use our home-made cotton gin
and clean
> an equal amount of cotton in a tiny fraction of the time. This is a
direct,
> HANDS-ON student experience with the concept of labor saving devices. I
> always go on and discuss the irony that the cotton gin made slave work
harder
> in the southern states. There was no longer a yearly stint sitting in
the
> shade hand-cleaning cotton. The cotton gin demanded larger crops and
slaves
> spent more time in the hot, dusty fields planting, weeding, and picking.
> After we clean our cotton, the kids twist the fluff into long strings
and
> we do some simple weaving on our home-made looms. We always save enough
> strings to twist together into a jump rope which we use all year.
> I have been talking about my Cotton Unit for several years and people
from
> other states have asked if I could send them some raw cotton. I decided
to
> put this on the internet to see how much interest there is. I called
our
> State Agricultural Inspector. He has given me guidelines to follow so
that
> the cotton is pest and chemical free.
> I can send a box containing one large dried plant with open bolls
intact
> nested in a bushel of hand-picked cotton bolls. This should be enough
for a
> class of 20 to 25 students.
> I am getting a list together now so I will know how much cotton to
> reserve. The farmer, a School Board Member, needs to know very soon how
much
> cotton we will need to hand-pick. This cotton will be USDA inspected
and
> cleared for shipping. The price will be $20 plus postage. Please send
me your Zip Code and I will calculate shipping.
> The lesson plans that cross the curriculum and easy plans for
building
> your own hand-cranked cotton gin and loom can be found at <A
HREF="http://memb
> ers.tripod.com/~KennethBell/CottonPlans">Cotton Activities for K-12
Teachers</
> A> http://members.tripod.com/~KennethBell/CottonPlans.
>
> Please e-mail kennethbel@aol.com
> or write: Kenneth E. Bell
> 402 Railroad Ave. W.
> Allendale, SC 29810
> or call: 803-584-1559
>
> Please forward this to someone who might be interested.
---------------------------------------------------
Deborah Hunt
Internet Resource Specialist
Exploratorium
3601 Lyon Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
Voice: 415-353-0485
Fax: 415-561-0307
email: dhunt@exploratorium.edu
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